New Blood

New Blood (Plotsys ID: 1)
Summary
The balance of power is changing in Elliana Fairchild's world, and even she isn't sure what to make of it. Nations, kings, gods and sorcerers clash to find the new pecking order in a world where stability has become a storied myth.
Base Info
TP Scale:	Major
TP Runner(s):	92
Attached Theme:	Immaculate Visions-1
Other Contacts:	None
Target Audience:	Anyone Interested
Genre & Tone:	Mixed

Events So Far

Act I

Drake Wightseer

Act I of the plot opens entirely in the background, unknown to any PC. The Knight Errant of the Starshine Kingdom, Drake Wightseer, discovers the remnants of an ancient ritual of some kind, and begins to search for the original locations where the Shajem, the world's dark gods, have been sealed for centuries. Many are lost, so this process takes weeks... especially as the first location they find is the location of the Lord of Nightmares, where they encounter the remnants of Elliana Fairchild's ascension.

The Fall of Faranel

Unrelated to Drake's quest, Elliana had determined that a powerful force was trapped beneath the great tree of Faranel, a small forest nation in her homeworld. Aided by several allies, a large battle was fought, resulting in heavy losses all around before Elliana seized the great tree's heart, managing to corrupt it with her own power and uproot it. This freed the Amethyne Neuvinia, a spirit of rebirth, but earned Elliana the ire of the nation and lead to more polarizing opinions on her state of being, especially since the entity within her helped so readily to free the being.

Investigations

The freeing of Neuvinia sparked investigations into the other Shajem and Amethyne by both sides. The Confederacy begin making moves toward fighting the Empire of Elliana's world, which had destroyed her home and orphaned her to begin with, but also gathered what information they could... finding that another force of some kind was doing the same. They eventually heard of Drake and investigated the Starshine Kingdom, as well, finding the Starshine Kingdom curiously welcoming of Confederate forces despite being unwilling to ally.

The Union meanwhile met with some of those in power in Elliana's world, including her original mentor in the priesthood, and the man who had ordered the death of Elliana's servant, Charity Whiteheart. Drake's minions also met with the Union in investigating Fairchild herself, while at the same time murdering several knights of the Empire who might interfere. At first the murderer was unknown, so both Confederates and Union were searching for Drake to find out what he knew about the Shajem or the murders.

Revelation

Neuvinia was detected struggling against a binding of some sort at a harbor city. Union and Confederate forces both rushed to the scene to find the city in chaos, and Drake fleeing with his minions. Several of his minions were killed or captured while Neuvinia escaped, and Drake escaped after losing an arm, by taking a ship. The ship had a Union tracker planted upon it, however. Now, both sides had evidence that Drake was behind the murders and that his goals were less than noble, and both had differing reasons to stop him.

The Lord of Rage

Drake's tracker and activities took him to a small island, which the Union and Confederacy immediately followed him to. They found the island disturbing, with a population that was eerily friendly and peaceful despite being armed to the teeth. Tracking Drake into the volcano temple, they found him attempting to siphon away the power of a Shajem, the Lord of Rage. Both Union and Confederacy tried to stop him, resulting in a titanic fight in the volcano. Mistakes were made, including a berserk half-angel and dangerous backlash from an Abstractum, until eventually Elliana's Servant Mordred managed to capture the Lord of Rage by consuming it.

Drake was captured by the Confederacy and questioned.

Act II

The Nightmares(I)

Seeking understanding of Elliana, the Union gathers together several trusted people and, with her permission, enter her nightmares. There they find her fear of losing those she has grown close to... both enemies and friends. They also find one of the root causes of her psychosis, in her deep-seated fear of loss of control, stemming from the death of her parents.

The General's Daughter

In earlier investigations, the Union found the name 'Steppenworth' of import... and accidentally let it slip in Elliana's nightmares. Now both of them are seek the man known as General Steppenworth, but they find that the General is a burned, bitter cripple of a man who has lost his family and now struggles against a strange vigilante in his home city.

Elliana attempted to take her vengeance upon Steppenworth, but was informed that if she killed him, she would be orphaning a girl just like she was orphaned in the past. Reluctantly, Elliana conceded the point and agreed to work to find out who or what was behind all of these problems. Thus an uneasy alliance with the Union was formed.

The Nightmares(II)

Further exploration of Elliana's nightmares reveals memories and worries that hint that she worries she will lose control of herself... but moreso, show that her ultimate fear is that without her, her world will burn. Further insight is gained into Elliana, but that is not the most important part of the nightmare expeditions.

In delving into Elliana's nightmares, the combined exploratory force finds Wrathborn's memories, and discover that the Amethyne and Shajem are not light and dark gods, but instead natural parts of the world who existed in mated pairs, and the aggression of the Shajem is due to human cruelty.

Act III

Eveningstar

A Shajem is discovered beneath the capital of the Starshine Kingdom, and a combined Union-Confederate force secretly moves on it behind Elliana's back. This results in the loosing of a gigantic Behemoth and a battle within the depths of the mountain, but the most telling blow is to the Union, as Nathan Hall subverts the original plan in favor of a binding he came up with in secret, thus losing the trust of the Union and Confederacy both.

The Hundred

Meanwhile, Psyber's investigations into the Hundred, sacred weapons against the Shajem, have found one in the form of the blade Sovereign. Experimentation and hints from the dreams of Wrathborn reveal that the Hundred, which exist in fifty pairs, are actually made from the unhatched eggs of an Amethyne and Shajem mating.

Other Information

This is a long-term plot requiring player agency to advance the plot to some degree, and which can allow players to introduce new elements into the theme. While plot elements have been introduced, player investigation will determine which threats are dealt with, and there are a few(but not many) red herrings to chase if players aren't careful.

The plot does have an end goal, but how successful it is will be determined by what course the players take. As of this writing the true end goal has not been revealed, though one of the major antagonists has been dealt with.

Logs

Title	Date	Scene Summary
New Blood: The First Dream	July 3rd, 2014	Uncertain of Elliana's motivations, the Union organizes another foray into her dreams. Elliana sends Mordred with them to safeguard her secrets.
New Blood: The Second Dream	July 21st, 2014	The second dive into Elliana's dreams relives one of her worst memories.
The General's Daughter, Part 1	July 29th, 2014	The Union and the Confederacy both hunt down information about General Steppenworth.
The General's Daughter: Part 2	September 21st, 2014	Elliana invades Arnol's Watch, her heart set on revenge for her family.
Drake Interrogation	October 23rd, 2014	The Union interrogates Drake Wightseer for information on the Shajem.
The General's Daughter: Finale	October 27th, 2014	The new Amethyne, Neuvina, suddenly arrives at an old haunt.
The Third Dream	January 13th, 2015	For the third time, the Union dives into Fairchild's dreams.
Snakes In A Library	February 5th, 2015	Wrathborn speaks with Nathan Hall about Elliana
Hunt for Sovereign	February 18th, 2015	Psyber seeks an artifact in an ancient battlefield.
Penultimate Dream: City of Sorrow	February 19th, 2015	Visiting Elliana's nightmares again, a small group investigates her early life in Heaven's Victory
To Tame Pure Rage	February 21st, 2015	Nox, Adelyn and Lezard tackle the Shajem of Rage for practice. A lot of things get set on fire in general.
Final Dream: Abandonment	February 22nd, 2015	Delving into an empty temple in Elliana's nightmares, the group finds a hidden nightmare.
Secret Dream: Genesis	February 23rd, 2015	Opening the Gate in Elliana's dreamscape, it turns out to instead be Wrathborn's memories.
New Blood: The Bloodstone	February 25th, 2015	Nathan meets with Elliana's mentor, Ethan Bloodstone.
Search for Sovereign 2: Hunting a Wizard	February 28th, 2015	The next (and final) leg in the hunt for Sovereign.
New Blood: The Secret of Eveningstar	March 1st, 2015	A Shajem has been found under Eveningstar. Binding it proves to be complicated.
The Fairest Maiden of Hall	March 3rd, 2015	Nathan meets with his unwanted fiancee
Totally Mundane Meeting	March 6th, 2015	The Union and the Confederates operating on Terra Majora begin a tentative alliance.
Loose Ends	March 12th, 2015	Nathan and Eleanor go to talk to Eveningstar, while Psyber, Mordred, and Lezard Valeth dress down the Binder Order
A Knife in the Dark	March 16th, 2015	Charity makes her move to resolve the issue with the man who framed her and left her for dead.
Finish the Fight	March 29th, 2015	The Union and Confederacy make a push to finally seal the Lord of Cowardice for good.
New Blood: Lord of Famine	April 13th, 2015	The Terra Majora alliance goes after another Shajem: The Lord of Famine

Cutscenes

Title	Date	Scene Summary
Preparations (Elliana Fairchild)	January 22nd, 2014	Elliana discusses her plans for her world with Wrathborn, and her plans for her newly-created servant, Charity.
Aftermath Revisited (Elliana Fairchild)	January 25th, 2014	The mysterious man from before now searches for the Lord of Nightmares, and stumbles across the scene of Elliana's crime.
Forbidden Knowledge (Elliana Fairchild)	January 25th, 2014	A mysterious figure delves into lore best left forgotten in Elliana's world.
Constant Companion (Elliana Fairchild)	January 26th, 2014	While Elliana makes complex plots, Wrathborn expresses mild concern.
Source of Rage (Mordred)	May 18th, 2014	Mordred's dreams are awful.
The Hanging Judge (Psyber)	May 18th, 2014	In the aftermath of losing control of a new power, Psyber reflects on a terrible mistake.
Betrayal (Elliana Fairchild)	May 19th, 2014	Elliana tries to cope with the feeling of intense betrayal of her trust, and fails to notice Wrathborn's odd behavior.
The Memory of Night's Terror (Elliana Fairchild)	July 21st, 2014	Elliana, awakening after the Union was in her nightmares, has a new piece of information.
Fractured Lens (Nathan)	March 29th, 2015	Nathan suffers a betrayal and considers his options.